WASHINGTON – At a press conference that was supposed to be about Saudi Arabia’s support for America’s war against terror, the kingdom’s sultan of spin, Adel al-Jubeir, yesterday defended his country’s payments to families of suicide bombers and unleashed an anti-Israel tirade.

Al-Jubeir also refused to condemn Hamas, the Palestinian terrorist group that took responsibility for Wednesday’s bus bombing in Jerusalem, which killed 17.

Al-Jubeir’s comments came at a D.C. press conference he called to claim Saudi progress against terrorism – but that script was quickly cast aside when the session was dominated by questions about Saudi money going to Hamas and families of Palestinian suicide bombers.

Asked about the controversial payments, which critics call an incentive for suicide bombers, al-Jubeir said, “Do you punish the family because their son did something you disapprove of?

“I think, morally, guilt should not transfer,” he said.

“Osama bin Laden was a murderer who murdered several thousand people. Do we go out and punish the rest of the bin Laden family? I don’t think that’s morally right.”

Last year, a Saudi telethon raised more than $100 million that was delivered to the Palestinians through the Palestinian Authority, the Red Cross, Red Crescent and the United Nations, al-Jubeir said.